President Trump's personal lawyer has admitted paying adult film star Stormy Daniels a total of $130,000.

"In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford," Michael Cohen said in a statement Tuesday to The New York Times. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly. The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.”

Referring to the alleged affair between President Trump and Daniels, Cohen added: "Just because something isn't true, doesn't mean that it can't cause you harm or damage. I will always protect Mr. Trump."

Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who broke the story, spoke to Anderson Cooper about the saga.

“He would not answer a number of additional questions, including why he did this, whether the president knew," she said.

Cohen issued his statement after a watchdog group told the Federal Election Commission that the payout should be viewed as an “unreported campaign expense.”

Daniels was coy when Inside Edition's Jim Moret asked her last month about allegations that she was paid to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump.

A source close to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, tells Inside Edition she regards the attorney's statement about the payment as a violation of a non-disclosure agreement she signed.

As a result, the source says, she is now free to tell her side of the story.

Donald Trump has not commented on the matter and would not answer questions about the payment during a White House meeting Wednesday.

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